DARK RIFT FILMS is an award winning film production company focused on producing big ideas on small budgets

BIG IDEAS

DARK RIFT FILMS is developing a commercially viable slate of genre feature films, seeking to bring their experience in producing big ideas on small budgets, to a larger audience.

EXPERIENCE

The team bring unique blend of expertise from film and television production to writing, directing, producing, post-production and marketing. Our award winning films have been screened at international film festivals and received critical acclaim.

COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

Our first feature film THE CREATURE BELOW secured distribution deals at CANNES and AFM in ten territories. The film is out now on DVD & VOD in the USA and Canada.

Book of Monsters

Feature Film/ Action Horror

DREAD CENTRAL PRESENTS TO RELEASE IN 2019 ON DVD, BLU-RAY, VOD AND IN SELECT CINEMAS

Six kickass women must fight off a horde of terrifying monsters at an 18th birthday party

Sophie's 18th birthday party becomes a bloodbath when six terrifying monsters descend upon her house, intent on devouring the party guests and killing anyone who tries to leave.

As her school friends are torn apart and eaten, Sophie must rally a band of misfits and take up arms to send their party crashers back to hell. To survive the night, Sophie will face her destiny; monsters are real - and she's the only one who can stop them.

BOOK OF MONSTERS brings old-school practical creature effects and a dark comedic edge to make for a deeply entertaining monster movie.

The film was part funded through Kickstarter in August 2017, raising £45,000 and became one of the 15 most funded horror movies on the crowdfunding platform. Principal photography was completed in October 2017. The film had its World Premiere at Arrow Video FRIGHTFEST on 25th August 2018 in London and is set to screen at several international film festivals over the next year.

Dread Central Presents acquired the worldwide rights to the film in August 2018 with a release on DVD, Blu-ray, VOD and in select US cinemas in spring 2019. Read the press release here.

The Killer Spotlight (***** 4.5/5) Book of monsters is a Fantastic Love Letter to old school 80’s horror that blends into a modern theme with a stellar cast, Fun kills and INCREDIBLE Creatures that are designed and made with incredible practical effects. I am praying they continue the story with not only a sequel but maybe a TV show too. 4.5/5 - Arguably one of The Best Films of This years FrightFest" - http://thekillerspotlight.com/2018/08/25/book-of-monsters-review/

Book of Monsters features a cast full of strong, kickass women including Lyndsey Craine, Michaela Longden, Lizzie Stanton, Anna Dawson, Hannah Rose-Muirhead and Steph Mossman. Also starring is horror legend Nicholas Vince as Jonas, famous for his roles as the Chatterer in Clive Barker's Hellraiser & Hellbound: Hellaiser II as well as Kinski in Nightbreed.

This is the second feature film by director Stewart Sparke and writer Paul Butler, whose previous film ‘The Creature Below’ premiered at London Frightfest in 2016 and has since been released on DVD & VOD around the world.

Available in the USA & Canada on iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play, PlayStation, Xbox, Vudu, and On Demand through your local cable provider.

The Creature Below is a horror feature film about a young scientist whose discovery of a malevolent entity sets her on a bloody descent into the jaws of insanity. The film introduces a terrifying new monster to the genre and with slimy practical creature and gore effects, it promises audiences a deeply disturbing new addition to the international horror scene.

Directed by Stewart Sparke and Written by Paul Butler. Starring Anna Dawson as Olive, Michaela Longden as Ellie, Daniel S. Thrace as Matt, Johnny Vivash as Dara, Zach Lee as Fletcher, David Shackleton as Herbert and Libby Watts as Mrs. Jones.

THE CREATURE BELOW is Dark Rift Film's first feature film and premiered at FRIGHTFEST London in 2016 and has since secured international distribution deals at CANNES and AFM in ten territories, with the first DVD & VOD release available now in the US & Canada. Self financed by Dark Rift Films with a budget of only £12,000 and shot over just fourteen days, the film proved critically and commercially successful.

MUST SEE! The Creature Below is a Remarkable Narrative Complimented with Outstanding Visuals

— Decay Magazine

Short Films

CONTAINMENT

Dir: Stewart Sparke / Writer: Paul Butler

A trio of quarantined scientists will be burnt alive unless they can expose and extract a deadly alien parasite that could be hiding inside anyone of them.

Containment was produced for the Horror Channel's ShortCuts to Hell Competition in 2014. The film was shortlisted among 23 other 3 minute short horror films and is now available to buy in the ShortCuts to Hell II anthology film on DVD or iTunes.

RATS!

Dir: Stewart Sparke / Writer: Paul Butler

In this comedy horror short film, a young woman finds her home plagued by mutant Rats from Outer Space.

Rats! is a horror/comedy short film in the vein of the creature features of the late 80s and early 90s such as Gremlins and Critters. The goal was to create a film with minimal CGI and instead use practical creature puppets and costumes. In Combination with buckets of fake blood and drool, the Rats were brought to life and the final film reflects an era of horror films long gone by.

HOLMGANGA

Dir: Stewart Sparke / Writer: Paul Butler

An ageing chieftain of a small village faces certain death in a duel against a marauding warlord, something which the chieftain's son finds difficult to stomach.

A ground-breaking film set in Viking Age Britain and with dialogue entirely in Old Norse. 'Hólmganga' takes us back to a time when preserving honour was more important than preserving one’s life.

FROSTBITE

Dir: Stewart Sparke / Writer: Paul Butler

Set in the 1960s, the Arctic research vessel Tornado is on a mission to investigate strange weather and zoological phenomenon in the North Pole. It is there that they make a startling discovery - a submarine missing since the Second World War, buried under the ice for over 20 years. But they soon find that what they uncovered was best left buried.

Frostbite is a proof of concept trailer for a Horror/Adventure feature film currently in development.

AWARD WINS: Best Feature/Best Special FX/Best Sound Design - NYC Horror Film Festival (Book of Monsters), Best International Feature - Spooky Empire Film Festival (Book of Monsters), Best Practical FX - PDXtreme Portland Underground Film Fest (Book of Monsters), London Horror Society Award/Last Shirt on the Left Award - Unrestricted View Film Festival (Book of Monsters), International Horror Movie Awards (The Creature Below), Best Special Effects - Horrible Imaginings Film Festival (Rats!)